The contract is due to run until 2023. The company says the aggregates are a vital ingredient in the production of concrete and asphalt and in local construction.
In total CEMEX UK transports 2.6 million tonnes of aggregate by rail. It says this makes significant environmental savings - a 26-wagons train can transport 1,650tonnes by journey equivalent to 55 truck journeys.
The new contract will see GB Railfreight hauling CEMEX aggregates from its Dove Holes quarry in the Peak District to depots at Salford, Leeds, Selby, Ely, Bletchley and Birmingham. The contract will also include two services running out of South Wales, with one travelling from Cardiff to Acton and Crawley, and the other from Neath to Birmingham and Leeds.
GB Railfreight’s 66713 locomotive pulled the first set of CEMEX wagons in April 2018 and has been running one set of wagons since this date to assist CEMEX prior to the formal start of the contract. Over the course of the contract, GB Railfreight will be supplying five sets of hopper wagons, four of which will work out of Dove Holes and one from South Wales. The trains will be up to 22 hopper wagons long.
Mark Grimshaw-Smith, head of rail and sea, CEMEX UK commented: “GBRf has a reputation for service and reliability in our sector and we needed to see a step change in the effective delivered capacity from our quarry to our depots. This will support our Readymix and Asphalt businesses as well as our external customers. So far we have seen a difference in approach and our depot managers in particular are reporting a more customer-focused experience which can only help us to grow the volume on this contract.”
John Smith, MD of GB Railfreight, said: “This is yet another sign of the hugely important role that rail freight plays in the building materials and construction sectors in the UK. Rail freight is building Britain and we must celebrate and encourage this as demand for new housing, infrastructure and consumer products rises.”
